NCAA FB

Buckeyes win big, but stay the same in polls

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)

Like a lot of coaches, Ohio State's Urban Meyer tries to get his
team to ignore the polls.

But then he took an extraordinary step.

When the team met a week ago, he addressed the initial BCS
rankings, what the Buckeyes' No. 4 ranking meant and what it could
mean in the future. He told his team everything would turn out
right if it just kept winning.

Then the Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) went out and rolled over
Penn State for a 63-14 victory, acknowledging they wanted to win
big in order to impress the voters.

''You could say it's a statement in a way,'' said safety Corey
Brown, whose interception in the end zone on the Nittany Lions'
first possession helped turn the tide.

But with the teams in front of them - Alabama, Oregon and
Florida State - also winning big, the landslide verdict may not
have had the desired effect. Ohio State remained No. 4 in not only
The Associated Press and USA Today polls, but also in the second
weekly BCS rankings.

In the latest BCS rankings, Alabama remains No. 1, with Oregon
passing Florida State to get to No. 2.

While No. 5 Missouri lost for the first time and is no longer
right behind the Buckeyes in the two major polls, Baylor moved to
7-0 with an equally impressive 59-14 win over Kansas to take
Mizzou's place breathing down Ohio State's collective neck.

In the BCS, after the Seminoles and Buckeyes comes Stanford at
No. 5, then Baylor.

Ohio State's victory over Penn State (4-3, 1-2) was historic,
beyond extending the nation's longest winning streak to 20 games.
It was the Nittany Lions' worst loss and their most points allowed
since a 64-5 setback to Duquesne Athletic Club in `99 - 1899, that
is.

Some of the numbers were jaw-dropping: The Buckeyes averaged 8
yards per rush and 14 yards per completion, totaling 686 yards
while scoring on four plays of at least 25 yards in length.

''We needed a type of game like this,'' said wide-out Devin
Smith, who had five catches for 90 yards. ''We work hard every
single week. Everything we did today from the time we woke up to
kickoff was perfect. We wanted to make a statement. That gives us
confidence.''

Meyer said he and his team didn't set out to turn any heads with
a lopsided score.

''That was certainly not our mindset,'' he said. ''Our mindset
is to find a way to win this game against a very talented
team.''

Some may have questioned why Meyer elected to kick onside after
the Buckeyes took a 42-7 lead on Braxton Miller's second of three
TD passes with 3 seconds left in the half. But the prevailing logic
dictated that Ohio State was merely trying to prevent a long
kickoff return with so little time left.

Most of the starters were long gone midway through the third
quarter, yet Miller was still on the field in a two-quarterback set
when backup Kenny Guiton ran for the first of his two scores with 4
minutes remaining in the third that made it 56-7.

''In the third quarter we started pulling guys out,'' Meyer
said. ''Number one, we're trying to be sportsmen, but we also don't
want to get guys hurt.''

Penn State's Bill O'Brien was gracious after the humiliating
defeat. He went out of his way to say that it was the fault of him
and his staff that the game got out of hand, and that his team
would learn from such a bitter lesson. He praised Ohio State's
personnel and called the Buckeyes ''a hell of a football
team.''

The only time he even hinted that he thought the Buckeyes tried
too hard to make it a rout - and this required some reading between
the lines - was when he said his players would put the loss behind
them, then added, ''We'll remember some things.''

Next up for the Buckeyes is a game at Purdue (1-6, 0-3), last in
most statistical categories in the conference. There'll be no need
for the Boilermakers, who have lost five in a row, to go to any
Halloween horror movies; all they need do is take a gander at Ohio
State's game film against Penn State.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, say they're just playing out the string
and hoping for the best.

''We don't worry about it,'' safety C.J. Barnett said.
''Honestly, we just focus on the task at hand and next week that
will be Purdue. All the other stuff will take care of itself at the
end of the season.''

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